


chasing daybreak

by Kuro_Ko, Sephirron



Series: of wings & crowns [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Flying, Light Angst, Pre-Timeskip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28530420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuro_Ko/pseuds/Kuro_Ko, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirron/pseuds/Sephirron
Summary: Ingrid and Edelgard have a past that has shackled them to the ground, but up in the sky, soaring on the wind of a new dawn, they are free.Ingrid Birthday Weekend 2021.
Relationships: Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Series: of wings & crowns [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088078
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	chasing daybreak

The Kingdom was on fire. 

The sweltering heat had pushed the neverwinter to the city walls and in a sea of flame, it razed everything to the ground - the history, lineage, and its people. It was a different kind of prickle in Ingrid’s lungs. Instead of the biting cold that spread like icy branches, it was a thick ash that had left her almost begging for the snow to soothe the ache. 

The Kingdom was on fire and Ingrid had sworn her world had ended. She rushed through the streets, the screams and anguish of the dying as blurred as the smoke around her. The tears made trails through the soot on her pale cheeks. In her desperate attempts to escape, she saw images of people she recognized that made her heart ache. There was the baker and the stablehand, then the kind woman who had given her free fruits for her friends to share. 

And like a glacier meeting an ocean tide, her heart broke split in two.

Because Glenn had been there, a sword through his chest, and regret on his face. It was too much for a young Ingrid to lose. First her best friend and then her love to be. She coughed through her grief and in the flames, her faith shattered. 

The Kingdom was on fire and in it’s fading roar, death was silent. In its shadow, freedom had faded. 

When the flames had finally settled, there was nothing left. 

And for months, and years after, Ingrid still clung to a simpler time in the confines of her room. Her friends had moved on - each finding their own paths to cope with their grief. Dimitri was devastated at the loss of his family but somehow steeled himself to one day take the seat as King. Felix had changed and had become bitter, but she knew that his pursuit of strength was in hopes he could fight his brother again someday.

As for her, she wanted to become a knight - she would not be so powerless ever again. 

Her father had different ideas for her however, a future she couldn’t refuse, he would say. He had waited a few years, to give her time to grieve her loss, but the moment she could take flight again on Astra’s wings, he had proposition after proposition for her. 

_“Father, I don’t want to marry a random noble - I want to be a knight! Like Glenn, so I can serve beside the King!”_

_“You will do no such thing, Ingrid. The future of our family depends on our bloodline! You must take responsibility.”_

She wondered how long she had been set up - pampered to be an ideal noble to just be wedded off to a stranger. At least Glenn was familiar, Glenn was warm. And now she was cold, with her dreams wilted around her. When the expectations were too much, she would run off high in the sky with her father calling after her. On the clouds she would dream of past memories, when she was free to love, and free to choose.

Her mind drifted to when the Kingdom was whole. The trumpets had blared at the city gates and a carriage had rolled through the entrance. The color of the wood and the craft of the gold was more intricate than Ingrid had ever seen. She heard whispers among the crowd, something about an _Imperial carriage? This far north?_

Ingrid watched with curiosity as the knights lined in formation like an aisle to the entrance of the carriage, as if the King himself had come home. But instead, King Lambert had strode up to greet the guests. From the carriage emerged a man, with long brunette hair and violet eyes, his expression impassive and cold as the snow on the stone pavement. Then from behind him, a young girl, with same colored hair like silk and her eyes were softer, like the pastel of the sky at first light. 

Her childhood friends had gathered around her, watching in rapt attention.

“Dimitri, who are they?” Ingrid asked the blonde boy.

“Father says they’re our guests from the Empire. The princess and her uncle.”

They hummed collectively as a group and watched them pass. King Lambert paused for a moment and turned to them, waving them over. They looked at one another and stepped forward from the crowd, the citizens looked at them with pride. The Crest-bearers of the Gautier, Fraldarius, and Galatea Houses and the prince himself. They stood at attention like they had been taught and King Lambert smiled down on them.

“Hello little ones, I want you to meet Lord Arundel’s niece, Edelgard. They’ll be staying with us for a while and I imagine you’ll become fast friends.”

“Hello,” Edelgard greeted softly, lifting the sides of her skirts in a curtsy. Sylvain greeted her with a bright cheesy grin, Felix nodded in return, and Dimitri greeted her with a genuine small smile. 

Ingrid bowed to her and Edelgard blushed. Ingrid extended her hand out to the young princess and Edelgard stared back, unsure. The expression on Ingrid’s face was harmless, with a boyish grin that was equally as charming and adorable. Whatever Edelgard had seen in her, she took her hand gingerly and shook it.

“I’m Ingrid. Do you like horses?”

Edelgard had blinked at her like she had been expecting anything else but that particular question. 

“...I’ve never really thought about it,” she replied, puzzled. 

Ingrid had a curious look on her face and she decided she wanted to know more about this girl from a faraway land. 

Edelgard had fit right in with their group of friends, often teaming up with Ingrid to stop Sylvain from his disorderly antics. 

“Sylvain, that’s rude! Mind your manners, would you?” 

“Aw, ease up, Ingrid, I was just teasing her,” the boy protested with a pout.

Edelgard had stood next to Ingrid with her fists on her hips. “You should know better, Sylvain. What if someone tried to mess with Ingrid like that?” 

Sylvain had zipped his mouth after that with embarrassment burning on his cheeks. 

Felix, determined to be as strong as his brother, would often challenge Edelgard to a duel. 

“You were raised in the Empire, right? Then face me! Let’s see what you got against a future knight of Faerghus!”

Edelgard had rolled her eyes but agreed anyway. With a flip of her hair over her shoulder, she turned away from him towards the training weapons. “As you wish.”

Ingrid had wide eyes when she saw Edelgard take a small wooden axe off the rack. She went toe-to-toe with Felix easily, her swings were graceful and well-practiced for someone of her age. There was a confident air about her that swirled at her feet and flowed through her hair.

She was beautiful and Ingrid was smiling.

“Go, Edelgard! You can do it!” she cheered. The princess blushed again but swept Felix right off his feet with the flat of her axe. He groaned and Ingrid shouted in victory. Edelgard had come over to her after the match and she looked sheepish.

“Ingrid, you can stop yelling, it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Edelgard mumbled, her fingers playing with her sleeve.

Ingrid shook her head. “No, El, it was really great. You’re really great. Maybe one day you and I can fight too!”

“Against one another?” Edelgard asked and Ingrid looked confused. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

Ingrid rubbed a thumb on her jaw in thought. “Well, as a knight, I should protect you instead. So if you don’t want to fight that’s fine.”

Edelgard remained silent for a moment with a stunned expression in her eyes. Ingrid reached out and took her hand in worry. 

“Did I say something wrong, El? You look sad.”

Edelgard returned from her stupor and denied it with a shake of her head. “No, I’m fine.” 

Ingrid had dropped the conversation and Edelgard never mentioned it again. And later on in their friendship, Ingrid found out that Edelgard indeed didn’t like horses. She shied away from them, often jumping at the sheer size of the adult ones that trotted through the city. She would stand behind Ingrid but later on, vehemently deny with a pout that _no, I’m not scared! You’re imagining things!_ But the blonde wouldn’t let Edelgard be afraid. 

Her father had said to her once that one shouldn’t face their fears alone. And so Ingrid chose to never leave Edelgard’s side. She felt invigorated to show Edelgard the peace she could find in the sky being so far away from home. 

“Ingrid, are you sure about this?” Edelgard asked, looking wary at the young white pegasus in the stables.

“Oh c’mon, El! It’ll be fun, I promise! Astra and I have flown all over the kingdom!” Ingrid reassured brightly, tugging on Edelgard’s hand. The young girl nudged the princess’s hand forward and Astra had given her palm a curious sniff, Edelgard’s fingers twitching at the action. Astra blinked at her slowly and nuzzled her snout into the curve of her palm and Ingrid could hear the sound of surprise that escaped Edelgard’s lips.

“She likes pats,” Ingrid hinted. 

Edelgard nodded and Ingrid giggled, only Edelgard would look like she took her task so seriously. Her tiny hand stroked down Astra’s face and down her neck, her mane like silk. Unknowingly, a smile was on Edelgard’s face, a genuine one and the first Ingrid had seen since she had arrived. 

Ingrid reached out her hand and Edelgard looked at it. 

“I’ll protect you. Do you trust me?” Ingrid offered.

Edelgard was once again silent but answered by taking Ingrid’s hand and squeezing it tight. They settled onto the saddle on Astra’s back and Ingrid urged the pegasus forward and took flight into the sunny afternoon. Edelgard held Ingrid’s waist in a vice grip as they ascended higher and higher into the clouds. 

Ingrid pulled on the reins and they slowed to a hover. Ingrid took one of her hands and layed it gently on Edelgard's interlocked ones. 

“You can open your eyes now,” Ingrid said. She heard the gasp behind her and laughed to herself. One of Edelgard’s hands loosened and reached out towards a cloud that wisped by. Ingrid looked over her shoulder and saw the wonder that filled her eyes. 

“Ingrid, we can see _everything_ ,” Edelgard whispered, exasperated. 

“Do you like it?”

“I love it,” the princess admitted. “I feel… free.”

Ingrid thought about the meaning. This place in the sky was where the sun was the warmest and where she felt the lightest, her breath coming a little easier. She thought about the expectations Dimitri had as the prince or Felix living in his brother’s shadow. And Edelgard - a princess so far away from home but whatever had troubled her followed her this far. It showed in the way she never let her guard down, her motions practiced and precise than the typical kids that ran like fools all over the kingdom, and the smile on her face was rare. Ingrid wondered if being free is what she longed for but she didn’t know where to look. 

And then, what would become of her, as the only Crest-bearer of the Galatea House? Would she be chained to her duties one day? Would she ever take flight with Astra ever again after that? 

She couldn’t imagine such a world without it. 

“I’m happy,” Ingrid said simply. Edelgard smiled back at her and nodded, her hand returning to Ingrid’s waist.

They floated close to the heaven’s for a long time in blissful silence, the buildings below insignificant to their joy and peace. Ingrid paused for a moment when she felt a weight on the small of her back, just between her shoulder blades. Edelgard had pressed her cheek against her shirt, closing her eyes.

“Did you mean what you said, Ingrid?”

“What do you mean?”

“That you’d protect me,” the princess whispered, her voice small.

Ingrid was confused because the answer was simple. The politics of the kingdom were complicated, the roles of being a noble’s child was tiring and without end. But this, the answer was nothing short of easy, seamless, and true. 

“Always, El,” Ingrid replied without a shred of doubt. “And one day, when you go home, I hope you can keep this part of the sky with you.”

Edelgard shifted closer. “And if I can’t?”

Another easy answer. “Then I’ll bring it to you.”

The princess dropped a soft kiss on the back of her neck and held onto Ingrid a little tighter. Ingrid felt the sun warm her heart just a bit more.

And in an instant, in the present day, Ingrid opened her eyes from her dream of a memory to a stormy gray sky with no sun in sight. The air was brisk and Ingrid couldn’t even feel the phantom embrace Edelgard had given her. She sighed into the emptiness and hoped, despite having nearly none of it left.

That Edelgard was alright. She prayed to the Goddess even though she never answered for the deaths in the Kingdom, she still prayed. That even if Ingrid wasn’t a knight strong enough to protect anyone, that Edelgard was okay. 

There would be countless times through the years that Ingrid would pray for the same thing as she hovered in the sky with Astra, years after Glenn’s death, and years of being harped by her father. Sometimes, she’d lie across the pegasus’ back and wonder if there would be a day that they could take another flight.

Little did Ingrid know that in the haze of her prayers on the wind, Edelgard had screamed for her to save her. Through the bleariness of her pain and the swirling of her grief, she called for Ingrid to protect her. But the heavens muffled her sounds and she was left alone, chained to the dungeon walls, far from the sky as the knight floated in a dream where they had been together, and free. 

* * *

Ingrid’s eye snapped open as she muffled a cry, her heart hammering in her chest and her brow covered in cold sweat that made her shiver in the night. She straightened up in bed, blinking to adjust her eyes to the darkness of the night around her.

She was in her room, she was in Garreg Mach, she was training to become a knight.

She was safe.

The flames razed the city when she closed her eyes and that the dead looked at her in those last moments she would never be free of.

She knew it was useless trying to go back to sleep now. Dawn would be upon them soon enough and the monastery would wake up and bustle in activity as students made their way to their classrooms and the training grounds. Ingrid changed quickly into her uniform and strolled outside, hoping that the fresh air of the night would take away the last remnants of the night terror.

Ingrid couldn’t remember the dream but she could still see the fire that had long ago been extinguished. There was a single thing she could do to be free of it once more, something nobody could take away from her, a feeling that she always looked forward to. 

She could ask Astra to take her up to the sky and let them be free where nobody could reach out for them, where nightmares couldn’t find her and only the wind could speak to her.

In the open gardens of Garreg Mach, however, near the pond and on her way to the stables, she saw Edelgard looking to the moon. Ingrid felt how the heavy feeling in her belly turned into a lighter one, her heart hammering for a different reason in her chest and a smile drawing in her lips before she realized.

“El, it’s a little early to be up,” she called, walking to her. Edelgard smiled and crossed her arms.

“I could say the same to you, don’t you think?” she retorted, her expression a soft one. “I couldn’t sleep…”

“Night terrors?” Ingrid knew how unsettling they could be, how difficult it was to go back to a resting sleep after them. Edelgard nodded and Ingrid decided she wasn’t going to pry in her dreams. After all, she hadn't been there for years to protect the Imperial princess.

She hadn’t been there to see the changes that had operated in her and had changed the young girl that still lived in Ingrid’s memory. She smiled instead and offered Edelgard a hand, the Imperial princess looked at her hand and cockedan eyebrow, but took her offering nonetheless.

“Come with me, I know something that may help?” Ingrid tugged her to the stables, not stopping to listen to her answer. Edelgard followed, her eyes widening as she realized where they were going. Ingrid knew exactly where Astra was and opened the door to her stable with a soft whistle.

Astra appeared, neighing and pushing her rider’s shoulder affectionately.

“Ingrid, I’m not sure about this…” Edelgard let go of Ingrid’s hand to see the white pegasus that demanded pats and attention.

“El, it’s alright, I do this all the time,” Ingrid patted Astra’s soft, pristine white neck, her pegasus tilting her head trying to engulf her in a hug. “Astra is a very delicate flyer and I would never let you fall. We’ve been together in the sky before.” 

“I know, I know…,” Edelgard sighed then with a straighten in her shoulders, she steeled herself. “I trust you.” Edelgard extended her hand for Astra to sniff and neigh softly before pushing her snout into her palm. The pegasus knew her and liked her. It wasn’t uncommon for Edelgard to visit Ingrid in the stables when the knight to be was tending to her life-long companion. Astra knew her from even before, she remembered her fondly.

Edelgard smiled at her and her snout was soft and warm even through the fabric of her gloves.

How could Edelgard say she was still shaken by the night terror? How could she explain that deep down she feared she was still weak, still fragile?

The kid shackled to a table for them to examine, pick apart, and put together again as they pleased.

How could she explain she feared how human she still was?

Ingrid smiled, gentle, attentive, kind, and worried.

Ingrid who had been a victim of night terrors as well and had decided to face them doing the thing she loved the most instead.

Edelgard swallowed her worries and put up her facade. She couldn’t afford to be weak, for her sake, the sake of the ones she loved and the future of her soon to be Empire and continent.

She couldn’t afford to be human… but, how she longed for it.

Astra neighed again and took a couple of steps, her wings extended and her playful nature out in the open for them to see. Ingrid chuckled at her friend and hopped on her back in a swift, rehearsed movement. From there, the dawn barely scratched the horizon, the sky a mix of blue, black and purple, the stars still lit above them. Ingrid looked like the picture perfect knight . She looked strong and safe, a light amidst the darkness Edelgard desperately wanted to cling to.

“Let’s go, the sky waits for us.” Ingrid extended her hand and Edelgard took it despite her better judgement. In a fluid movement she was sitting behind Ingrid, just before where Astra’s wings were born from. Ingrid didn’t need a saddle and reins to ride Astra, with a single click of her tongue the pegasus flapped her wings and galloped a couple of feet before jumping and letting her strong wings carry them high up to the sky.

Edelgard wasn’t ready for it, she never was. She clinged to Ingrid’s waist and hid her face in her back and her long braid, her heart in her throat and the vertigo making her feel as if her stomach had dropped to her feet. Astra didn’t stop, spurred by her rider as she pushed onward, past the towers of Garreg Mach and up even more, to the point where the training grounds and the open spaces in the monastery were barely discernible from each other. Edelgard peeped down, her heart hammering but her dizziness stabilizing finally.

Ingrid laughed and steadied Astra’s flight, bringing it to a peaceful glide, Astra soaring and barely moving her wings to keep them in the sky.

The wind, whistling in their ears wasn’t enough to muffle their voices and the sheer delight and joy in Ingrid’s laughter made Edelgard chuckle alongside her. Ingrid used to tell her that no worries or problems could reach her when she was riding Astra. She used to say that the wind was her sibling and her teacher, that Astra was her companion and the sky the only place she felt truly herself. Maybe there was more there that simple poetry or a wish of freedom.

Maybe Ingrid was truly free when she was flying. Maybe Ingrid was somebody else when she was flying.

Maybe Ingrid was herself when she was flying.

“It’s a little cold this early in the morning, but I usually forget about it just for the thrill of flying!” Ingrid yelled, grabbing Astra's mane and looking at Edelgard over her shoulder. “How does it feel?”

“I have so much respect for flying units...” Edelgard kept her hands in Ingrid’s waist, afraid of letting go and plunging to the earth, cold and still dark below. Ingrid laughed good heartedly again and shook her head.

“This is easier than swinging a shield around with a hundred pounds of armor on you!” Ingrid joked, shifting so easily that Edelgard’s vertigo came back just by looking how her knees were the only limbs Ingrid was using to keep herself secured in Astra.

“I beg to differ, brute strength is an easy feat to achieve if one is dedicated enough.” Edelgard had seen plenty of soldiers that had achieved the strength needed to open their ways through a battle by swinging with no mind and no finesse with an axe or club. It wasn’t the prettiest but it was effective.

And an effective soldier was an alive one. 

“This is just as natural as breathing for me…” Ingrid’s eyes changed, a glint of mischief there that Edelgard feared, “Ready for a little bit of speed?”

“Ingrid…” Edelgard’s fingers were now digging into her skin, Ingrid’s smile widened and she spurred Astra with her left heel, the pegasus answering immediately and starting a wide turn, tilting them both slightly as she used the winds currents and her wings to keep gliding and changing direction. “Ingrid, no.”

“What? Couldn’t hear you there!” Ingrid’s smile was as bright as the moon and the sun that now dueled in the sky to reign over it. She used both of her heels and Astra dived, nose first, folding her wings and free falling without a second to lose. Edelgard’s voice caught in her throat, her eyes closed and her whole body wrapped around Ingrid’s frame to keep from falling.

As if Ingrid would ever let her fall.

The wind soaring around them, the cold, the warmth of Ingrid’s body, her clear voice as she laughed and kept Astra in course, the strong wings that made their fall a calculated, measured one.

Edelgard, suddenly, felt like Ingrid.

She felt free.

In the middle of the air, up by the force of their own devices, by the reach of their own skills. Edelgard felt free. She felt free of her dreams, her responsibilities, her curse. Free of her memories and her past that she revived every night, in every corner, in every shadow.

In every night terror she couldn’t escape from.

None of that existed there, free with Ingrid, as Astra extended her wings once more and they came to a sudden halt still so far up from the monastery, they were free.

They were free.

Ingrid laughed again and smiled at her, her green eyes shining with something different she couldn’t place but couldn’t stop looking at. Something Edelgard didn’t want to stop looking at.

In the horizon, orange, pink, violet, blue and burgundy, the sunrise was upon them and a new dawn came to light the day they had bonded without words.

But without doubt.

**Author's Note:**

> Day two and we keep bringing the Edelgrid goodness! One day more to go and we’re really excited for what’s to come!
> 
> Any comments, kudos, feedback are very very appreciated!
> 
> You can find us on Twitter here: 
> 
> Moni, Kuro


End file.
